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POLICE INVESTIGATE SEVERAL LEADS IN BETTS MURDERMontgomery County Police are investigating several leads in the murder of Shaw Middle School Principal Brian Betts.

Investigators are processing forensic evidence and canvassing two crime scenes - Betts' Silver Spring home where he was shot, and the location in Southeast D.C. where his sport utility vehicle was found over the weekend.

"We're looking for latent evidence or any information that will help us determine who was in that car, who may have taken that vehicle, and who may have been involved in the death of Brian Betts," Montgomery County Police Capt. Paul Starks says. (WTOP)

IT'S AN IRISH BAR! IT'S A DELI! IT'S GOING TO BE PACKED!
When you walk into Star & Shamrock you’re going to see some familiar faces because the guys behind the bar and running the place are no strangers to the Hill, hailing from places like the Pour House and Trusty’s. They’ve been working long and hard to make their dream of an Irish pub that serves a mean reuben come true, and last weekend they opened their doors for the first time to the friends and neighbors who’ve so eagerly been awaiting their arrival.

I stopped in on Friday with my THIH colleague Claudia, and there was barely room at the bar for us to squeeze in. As it was a soft opening, not everything was up and running: it was cash only over the weekend (although that will be changing this week when the credit card machines are up and running) and the only tap they had going was Guinness (a wise choice). I have to admit that I don’t recall much from the list of things that will be on tap, other than Smithwick’s, but I remember thinking it was what I expected to see at an Irish pub in the States. (The Hill is Home)

WISCONSIN AVE HAS TROLLEY ENVY?
The Issue: The District Department of Transportation's plan to install a 37-mile streetcar system glaringly leaves Ward 3 out in the cold, without concrete plans for a streetcar to run up Wisconsin Avenue from Georgetown. “One of the reasons they didn’t proceed was lack in community support,” says area resident and trolley champion Andrew Aurbach.

Streetcars for Stella!: “It’s a no-brainer to bring the streetcar up Wisconsin Avenue. It’s one of the most densely packed corridors in the city,” says Glover Park resident Ben Thielen and creator of the Wisconsin Avenue Streetcar Coalition. The area lacks a nearby metro stop and residents often complain about the unreliable buses, Thielen says. The surrounding neighborhood is also one of six areas expected to face the largest population increase in the District over the next 30 years, according to city figures. If concrete plans aren’t laid down now, 10 to 20 years down the line, “whoever’s living in the neighborhood then is going to look back and say, how did they screw this up 20 years ago,” he adds. (Washington City Paper)

SEXTING RAISES NEW PROBLEMS FOR COPS AND SCHOOLS
Sexting, kids sending naked pictures of each other through cell phones, has left law enforcement agencies and school officials struggling with how to punish or prevent the phenomenon.

Last week, police and school officials busted a Pyle Middle School boy who was renting out his iPod Touch so other boys could view images of middle school girls exposing themselves.

The case highlighted a dilemma for police who often have only child pornography laws to address the new category of crime. And for schools, the case illustrates the difficulty in convincing adolescents sexting is a serious matter, officials said. (Washington Examiner)